Drakeslayers - Kine G'namadth (Hounds) Completed

[Brother Captain Arkley]

Ahh so this is where you are hiding out these days D

 

Always was a big fan of your Stoneburners and I very much like where you are going with the Wolves.

[Bryan Blaire]

They look great!!

Ahh so this is where you are hiding out these days :D

Always was a big fan of your Stoneburners and I very much like where you are going with the Wolves.

Thanks Kolgrim - unfortunately it's been a long while since I got to work on them due to a shoulder and upper arm injury. Luckily it seems to have stabilized for the most part, so back to work - luckily been feeling somewhat creative lately.

Einarkley, yes, this is where I've been keeping myself lately. Been enjoying your Wolves as well!

So, managed to get the four pack members' power packs painted up and shaded yesterday, and today, I got my modifications to the Pack Leader's power pack done, but waiting on the glue to dry before I can get to painting that.

Here's how it looks at the moment:

So tomorrow, painting and working on finalizing the squad.

[Wispy]

that's probably the best wolf backup topper at the moment

[Bryan Blaire]

So yesterday for the first time in earnest (in 25 years of playing) I applied decals to my miniatures - and damn, those things can be a pain in the :cuss . I feel like I got it to work out with some liberal applications of Micro-Set and Micro-Sol. I'd messed around with trying to get decals on models a couple of times before, but it was always a huge issue and always resulted in me just freehanding markings that I wanted instead.

I feel like these came out pretty good though, and are far more complex than I'd have tried to freehand over and over:

So now all five of my Keen Stalkers have their GC sigils, and my six Blood Claws have theirs as well. Once the gloss coat dries, I'm going to go back and hit them with some matte varnish. Then I've got Pack markings to sort for the Stalkers and bases to sort for the Claws and both squads will be in fighting shape.

I think next I'm going to have to try my hand and a Primaris Wolf Priest and Primaris Wolf Lord (probably a stand in for Krom) and look at what I can get going on either a squad of Infilcursoreivers or more Stalkers with bolt rifles.

[Krakendoomcool]

The shape of a Space Marine shoulder pad has always felt like the worst possible shape for decals. Great job though.

 

Lovely looking Drakeslayers. Look forward to your Krom. Could be your Krom crosses the Rubicon, why not.

[Brother-Chaplain Kage]

The shape of a Space Marine shoulder pad has always felt like the worst possible shape for decals. 

 

You're not wrong. Back in the old days when I was playing Blood Angels, I had to damn near separate the decal into the two wings and the blood drop to get them to lay flat. 

 

Lookin' good, BB!

[ranulf the revenant]

Clean job, looks great!

[PeteySödes]

Love em!

[Bryan Blaire]

Appreciate it guys!

[BadgersinHills]

Handsome lads. The decals add to the paintscheme's good quality. 

[Bryan Blaire]

Handsome lads. The decals add to the paintscheme's good quality.

 

Thanks Badgers! Unfortunately I just realized there is more highlighting left to do than I thought on them... :lol:

[Bryan Blaire]

So I haven't been totally inactive on painting my vowed miniature:

Here's the original component shots:

With the added battle damage I gouged and drilled in:

Pelt base-coated and ready for my first attempt at using Contrast paints:

The leathered side of the pelt is Morghast Bone, while the grenade pouch is Zandri Dust. The fur is Wraithbone.

Leg component with pelt and axe haft prepared for Contrast as well:

Both prepped with Wraithbone.

Legs, torso, and helm assembled - remaining components base coated and with initial armor lining and shading:

Contrast pelt! I think it turned out pretty dang good:

It's a bit darker than I wanted, but I think I'll figure out how to alter the levels some with time. For the future, I also need to figure out how to make the Inner leather of the pelts more smooth - it still looks too blotchy to me.

I'm still working on some fluff for him, but historical or not, I'm using the idea of an "oath band" on his wrist - one in bronze, along with a bronze "torc" (represented on the armor by the gorget), and the other in gold on his left wrist from his elevation to Wolf Guard.

He's pretty bedecked in gold, but based on my chart I'm using, only the Wolf Lords (in the form of almost huscarls or sub-jarls) and High Lord (in the case Krom, who is currently MIA in my time line) would use more.

[Bjorn Firewalker]

You're a skilled painter.

[Bryan Blaire]

You're a skilled painter.

Mebee - but it still takes too damned long! :lol: Appreciate the kind words, Bjorn!

[Bryan Blaire]

Pict-capture of Ælfbane’s Skullhewers in battle alongside Svarnir Ironblood

(Click on any image in this post and the next to see a much larger version)

Ælfbane’s Skullhewers — Ashen Stalker Pack armed with Stalker-pattern bolt rifles

Greger’s pack all have iron fused into their wrist rings instead of the standard bronze to ward against the evil spirits of the Warp and indicate their Eldar hunting proficiency (based on their resemblance to beings harmed by iron in Fenrisian mythology).

Greger Ælfbane

Greger is quiet and watchful, his oft-laconic nature the cause of many a boisterous jest by once-fellow Bloodclaws. Many such were deemed poorly veiled challenges by the cunning young Wolf and swiftly settled with a few choice blows silently struck by Greger as lunged to his feet.

Serving as a Bloodclaw and then briefly a Grey Hunter, Greger became a Wolf Scout shortly before the Fall of Cadia - a posting that meshed his nature well with the other reserved, independent pack members. Hunting for several decades under Morkai’s Reaving (as some of the more superstitious Wolves refer to the Great Rift), Ælfbane proved an excellent counter-stalker of the self-important, slender Eldar Rangers. Greger credits the bearing of worked iron for his success against the evil souls of the leaf-eared pirates, cannily predicting and assaulting their positions with quick flanking strikes. A particularly bloody campaign on the agri-colony of Karevol III cemented his battle-name in saga.

Greger led two packs of Wolf Scouts in a counter-ambush against a large force of corsairs, destroying a large portion of the leaf-ears with a devastating crossfire of sniper bolts and missile contrails. Those flushed from their positions were struck down by concealed combat blade wielders or ran afoul of emplaced grenade clusters-turned-trip wire mines. In a singular display of unrestrained hatred, Ælfbane heated his iron worked wrist ring to a brilliant yellow-orange glow in a nearby spouting flame before advancing on a shot-pierced Eldar commander. Ignoring several razor cuts from shuriken discs, Greger stamped the Autarch's spine in two above the hips, then reached down and ripped the ebon crested helm from his head and savagely plunged the still glowing ring into his enemy's eye. Acid-laced spittle added an additional sizzle of flesh to the now-aflame, screaming features of the leaf-eared welp as Greger’s minute-long, fang-bared howl carried his opponent’s soul into the Warp.

Greger had volunteered previously to undergo the Rubicon Primaris rites, though a halt was ordered by the Priests of many of the Great Companies due to the deaths occurring in the attempts. He renewed his request directly to Krom, with Rikard Stormbound’s consent, in the wake of the Wolf Priests’ acceptance of new refinements to the Rubicon rites when those reached Fenris, indicating increased survival chances for the conversion to the Primaris template - though the incorporation of the Primaris organs still appeared to have increased difficulty among those of Russ’s gene-lineage. The Drakeslayers’ High Lord barked a single laugh and inclined his head in approval - a few hours later, Greger was dead.

He remained that way for 18 minutes - then his newly implanted Belisarian Furnace roared to life, and with it, Ælfbane. Adjusting to the Primaris body reforging took him some time, as did the integration of several pieces of his old armor into new Tacticus and Phobos suits by the Iron Priests. Greger re-swore his oaths of fealty to Stormbound and Krom Dragongaze on the twin, worked iron bands fused into his armored wrists, the second having been earned with his earlier elevation to the Wolf Guard. Rikard set him as a temporary pack leader over a mixed group of former Grey Shields and newly proven Fenrisian Primaris until Greger felt they had found their way, and though he could have relinquished the command to the likely pack alpha, he relishes the company of the more subdued Pack members to the boisterous companions he'd have in the Wolf Guard.

Olof Fenreaper

The eldest of the unit in sequential years, though barely past one hundred Terran in years lived outside stasis, Olof was extracted from Fenris after Archmagos Dominus Cawl declared the Primaris project successful and the generation of Marines began. Fenreaper remembers only vague snippets of images and noises from the Fang after being escorted there bloody and near-broken by a Wolf Priest, but the adolescent memories will strike at strange times, fighting through his hypno-indoctrination, as he wanders the domain of the Drakeslayers.

Some Greyshields, including Olof and fellow squad mates, had been removed from stasis for brief periods for proving testing of new forms of weaponry and armor, and Olof excelled at long range fire fights with various extended range bolt weapons. When the torch fleet bearing Olof and his fellow Greyshield Wolves arrived at the Fang, the less than warm welcome for lost brothers he expected made him determined to earn the respect of his fellow Wolves, a mark he feels he has hit as the second to his current pack leader.

Dren Stalking-spear

Youngest of Ælfbane’s pack, Dren is one of the newest Primaris Wolves, from a group created wholly on Fenris. Stalking-spear quickly mastered his own temperament and proved his worth as a marksman, accelerating his advancement out of the Star Reaper pack he began his training in. The fall from the heavens no longer held joy for the young Wolf, and while he still reveled in the cleaving dance, he found greater love in the carefully placed annihilation of a single bolt from a distance. While he still bears no true grey in his hair, Dren’s fangs have grown to an acceptable - though short - length, and he bears the brunt of his pack’s jests with a ready smile and quick retorts.

[Bryan Blaire]

Stal Ravenhammer

Stal was a member of the Unnumbered Sons who fought with his remaining brothers of Russ’s descent at the Battle of Raukos, cementing his fierce hatred of the Legions under Chaos’s sway, particularly the Iron Warriors. Stal’s interactions with the standard template Astartes of the Chapter were typical of the distrust held for the new breed of Marines, and while he was assigned to the Drakeslayers, it was only accepted grudgingly by Krom, who marveled at the increased combat power of the Primaris, but distrusted Guilliman’s miraculous return and meddling with the sons of Fenris.

Ravenhammer underwent the Test of Morkai in an effort to reconcile with his brothers - while he overcame his beast and completed the trial, it does not lurk far below the surface and often begins to rear it's head in the presence of Chaos-tainted Astartes. The test alleviated only a small bit of the tension with his brothers within the Chapter, and while he still desires closer bonds with the wider pack of his Great Company, the acceptance of his Ascended Pack Leader gives him some solace, though he fears that the beast within may fully slip his mental cage before long.

Othvar Eastenheim

Just getting his first gray hairs, Othvar is given to easy laughter and a superstitious manner that causes his Pack mates to joke that the Marine missed his calling with the Rune Priests when leaving his former Reaper pack. He recites ancient battle prayers to Russ and the All-Father in and out of battle, and almost ritually inscribed his gear with runes of battle and blessing large and small, hanging rune stones about his weaponry. While his brothers may mock his consultation of world-spirit rune-bones, none doubt his battle fervor, lethality, and precision aim with his bolt rifle at range.

Svarnir Ironblood - Wolf Guard Battle Leader

Svarnir has been a solid bulwark in the Drakeslayers’ line of battle for over two centuries, closing in on his third, of time outside the Warp. His relentless nature has led to pursuits against enemies others have thought foolhardy, putting him in situations that have only caused the deepening of his prodigious endurance by seeing them through. His shield and armor have been rent to the point of requiring replacement more than once, and his name is spoken in tones oft heard accompanying a curse by the Iron Priests serving with the Drakeslayers Great Company.

Ironblood’s Wolf Guard battle brothers have carried on a jest for a century that no battlefield can well and truly be considered secured until Svarnir has been tended to by the Wolf Priests for intense blood loss at least once. Some even find almost-giddy mirth at saluting the fields that this does not happen at with a promise they will see it again, to Ironblood’s displeasure. None doubt his resolve though, and many of his Company will back away from tests of will and endurance, though they often cheer him forward when challenges of such from other Great Companies occur during Grand Feasts of the Fang.

Svarnir bore the post-surgical transition of Ascension with silence, mouth clenched in eponymous determination for weeks, as his body knitted, bones elongated, and the Magnificat wrought other changes upon his form. Ironblood was once battered to near-death at the hands of an Ork warboss, only killing the foul beast with a shard of long bone from a desecrated Imperial hero through the eye, and has remarked that the experience was preferable to Ascension. His Belisarian Furnace has roared on more than one battlefield, the All-Father’s blessing in his chest adding even more verses to his saga with the cutting of threads when his wounds would have caused many Marines to fall back to safety, and killed most mortals before that.

(A shot of his bolt carbine, because I don't like how it came out in the four shot frames)

And with this, I declare my Hunter's Call vow completed.

[Jarl Kjaran Coldheart]

Those are AMAZING BB

[Bryan Blaire]

Those are AMAZING BB

Thanks JKC!

[Lord Blackwood]

Fantastic and inspiring work on  your wolves , really like the end result on the armor and the fluff is a fun read wish more people would work a little fluff into their stuff. 

[Bryan Blaire]

Thanks Lord Blackwood!

 

I’m definitely trying to drive down my inner critic some - Svarnir is probably only the 3rd HQ I’ve ever finished in 26 years of hobby & gaming - and he was the closest to a speed paint (if you can call two plus months that) I have done. I’ve tried to cut myself some slack on “perfect” brush use, etc. I really like how he turned out, although looking at him, I’m already seeing that his battle damage is actually a bit too clean. However, working on that won’t come until I’ve got more of my forces done.

 

I’m actually wanting to do some Vanguard units next, but I’m also very frustrated by a lack of axes currently - I’ve got some swords I’m going to try and do some casting with to fit better with how I see the Wolves, but those won’t solve that irritation. I really want to have a few axe and saex wielders, along side some axe and sword wielders. And I’m definitely wanting to do some Reivers (what I call Skein Cleavers right now) with a more Wolf-ed appearance and chainswords (because why would you use a silent weapon when you want to terrorize some lament out of your foes?).

 

Glad you liked the fluff - definitely got some more ideas churning and Rikard Stormbound is definitely getting made sooner rather than later.

 

(Sorry, tend to "vomit from the fingers" once I get to writing...)

[BadgersinHills]

Absolutely adore the painting and the fluff, great job. Stealing your ideas for my SW Assault Intercessors ;)

[Bryan Blaire]

Thanks Badgers! And by all means, steal away! We all need a good raiding once in a while to keep the blood pumping and prove that we still deserve to be alive (or ya die, in which case, it really doesn't matter any more, right ;) ). Seriously though, flattered if the ideas inspired, I take a great deal of inspiration from the forum as well. Keep pushing the Fang higher, onwards and upwards!

[Bjorn Firewalker]

Excellent work.

[Wispy]

a lovely squad! and hero! Edited July 29, 2020 by Wispy

[Bryan Blaire]

Thanks gents!